Monday, November 16, 2015

If you get a chance, stop in and see Frederick Artists Guy Henry and Marilyn Henry's paintings at McGuire Fine Arts Gallery and Framing at 29 E Patrick Street in downtown Frederick. Their styles are very different but equally delightful to view. Guy and Marilyn met in college and painted and exhibited throughout their marriage, but have rarely exhibited together. Marilyn taught art for over 35 years. Most recently she taught Drawing at Hood College but retired to spend more time in her studio. Guy and Marilyn taught drawing and watercolor classes and workshops together in Maryland and Delaware. They moved to Frederick on Halloween 20 years ago and love it here. Guy enjoys painting the surrounding countryside. Here are a few samples:*

Bake 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Stir halfway through. They will soften when the quiche is baking.

Let sweet potatoes cool to room temperature.

Remove pie crust from refrigerator and let sit on the counter for 5 minutes.

Unroll the piecrust and fit into a pie plate. Trim excess pie crust from edges or fold excess and tuck it under. If tart pan has fluted edges, press the pie crust into the edges.

Line piecrust with a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil. You can place pie weights or dried beans on top, but I found that a double thickness of heavy duty foil will keep the pie crust from puffing up while baking.

Add crumbled bacon to sweet potatoes and onions and place half of this mixture on top of piecrust. Top with half of cheese. Repeat layers.

Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper and pour into piecrust.

Bake in lower part of oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until set.

Cool for 15 minutes before slicing;

Get
Your Garden Ready for Winter

Getting
your garden ready for winter mostly means cleaning up. Pull the dead annuals
from the garden, trim back rose bushes and shrubs. Trim perennials where needed.
It’s also a good time to repair fences, structures and outdoor furniture.Remove old mulch from around roses that may
harbor insect eggs or spores from fallen leaves and apply new mulch to protect
the stems and roots.

Keep the Spirit of
Thanksgiving Alive Year-Round

The month of
November evokes notions of gratefulness and abundance. Gratitude can be a way
of life that can boost your immune system, contribute to overall happiness, and
improve your personal and professional relationships.Some tips include

Write a few things for which you are thankful daily. Be specific, and focus on the ordinary, everyday life.

Reflect on obstacles you have overcome and difficult times through which you have persevered, taking the opportunity to appreciate how your life has since improved. Let go of past hurts that still haunt you, you will free yourself to welcome future happiness.

Live in the moment, without dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Savor ordinary experiences and try to view them as opportunities for growth.

Most people are adept at displaying to the world their best aspects while concealing the negative. By comparing the negative aspects of your life to the positive aspects of others' lives, you are
allowing a skewed perception of reality to harm your happiness and sense of
self-worth.

Selling Your Home
During the Holidays

Contrary to popular belief, sellers in the real estate
market during the holiday season may enjoy several advantages. With so many
realtors and homeowners clinging to the assumption that it is not worthwhile to
list until January, buyers will have a smaller selection of properties from
which to choose. Less competition increases the likelihood that a particular
home on the market will garner an offer.

When more properties flood the market
after New Year, this advantage will disappear. Furthermore, buyers who are
taking time off from their holiday activities to search for a home are more
likely to be serious about moving as soon as possible. Therefore, while homes
on the market during the holidays will attract fewer potential buyers, the
showings that they have may be more likely to yield an offer. Here are some
tips to help you secure a sale without sacrificing the festive spirit.

·Decorations
should accent – but not overwhelm – your propertyexcessive decorations are distracting.

·Remember
that your home is the centerpiece, so any decorations should merely complement
the property rather than dominate buyers’ focus.

·Keep
the interior charming and bright

·Consider
placing a few flameless candles around your home for a cozy look.

·Bake
cookies in advance of a showing so that an inviting aroma lingers.

·Showcase how your home looks in other seasons. Provide photos from all seasons in your listing materials or in a photo album or slideshow that you have available when buyers come to view the property.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

October brought a rainstorm
that cause flooding in some sections of downtown Frederick, water in basements, etc. The Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) 11 invited Zack Kershner, the Director of Public Works for the City of
Frederick, to speak to residents about the recent massive rainstorms and the
damage caused by them. Some residents were concerned that the city's storm
sewers could not handle the water which left some streets flooded. Mr.
Kershner described the level of water that the system is design to
handle. He followed up by email with a summary that I could publish, shown below."City
staff have spoken with many residents regarding the flooding that occurred
City-wide in early October. To give some idea of the amount of rain that
we received and the intensity with which we received it, we had about 5 inches
fall in just over an hour. A 10-year storm for comparison purposes is
approximately 5-inches total over a 24 hour period. Storm drain
infrastructure is generally designed to handle the 10-year storm. This is
a City standard, but is also standard across most jurisdictions including the
State highway Administration (culverts are generally designed for larger storms
as the impact of the flooding could be more detrimental/life
threatening).

To give a
better picture of what we experienced, the volume of water that fell per acre
of land during that storm was about 20,000 cubic feet or about 130,000 gallons
per acre. Our infrastructure simply is not designed to handle that kind
of flow. We also had complaints of flooding across the City, versus
localized complaints, again signifying that the issue was not blocked or
failing storm drain, but a storm with an intensity beyond what our
infrastructure was designed handle. We do conduct pre and post storm
event inspections to ensure that there are no blockages at the
inlets.

Generally any
debris that can get past an inlet grate is easily washed down the storm
drain. There are no plans currently to increase the storm drain
infrastructure throughout the entire City, the cost of such an undertaking
would be extremely cost prohibitive and could not be supported by taxes or
fee's. Frederick County puts out alerts for severe weather, and the City
re-posts them to our website. You can subscribe for their alerts at
https://frederickcountymd.gov/list.aspx

An indication
of a blocked storm drain would be if the water ponding around an inlet did not
recede within the hour after the storm event. If for instance, a resident
noticed that water had receded around other inlets in the vicinity of their
home, but one inlet in particular sat flooded, then that would be an indicator
that there may be a blockage. If this was the case, the resident should
call our DPW switchboard at 301-600-1440 and file a report."

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Greetings. Here is the November 2015 eNews from the City of Frederick.
This newsletter is packed full of useful information! It is re-posted
here by permission. If you have any questions or suggestions, direct
them to Susan Harding, the city's Public Information Coordinator, and
author of the newsletter: susan@cityoffrederick.com. The topics for this month's newsletter are shown below and the articles follow. See the e-Newsletter archives for other issues. ~ Darcy Richards

Mayor McClement sets aside time each month to meet informally with citizens to discuss topics or issues of their choice. The November Talk to the Mayor will be held on the 4th Tuesday, November 24th from 2-6 PM.

The
Mayor's office is located in City Hall at 101 North Court St. No
appointment is necessary and citizens meet with the Mayor on a first
come, first serve basis. For details, contact Nikki Bamonti: 301-600-3835 or nbamonti@cityoffrederick.com

Westside Regional Park Feasibility Study Community Meeting

November 10th at 7:00 p.m.

The first Community Meeting for the Westside Regional Park Feasibility
Study is planned for Tuesday, November 10th at 7:00 PM. The meeting
will be held at the Municipal Annex Building, Conference Room C, located
at 140 West Patrick Street.

Citizens can email public comment to westsideregionalpark@cityoffrederick.com or mail to Kristi Winterstein, 121 North Bentz Street, Frederick, MD 21701, RE: Westside Regional Park through December 10th.

An on-line questionnaire will be made available immediately following the Community Meeting at

The City of Frederick Parking Department will once again offer
FREE Parking during the holiday season. Metered parking and parking
garages will be free on the following days and times.

Thanksgiving Day - November 26th

Frosty Friday - November 27th

EVERY weekend from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day beginning Saturdays at 8:00 AM through Mondays at 6:00 AM.

*All other days and times, normal parking rates will apply. Questions? Call 301-600-1429.

Frederick Community Action Agency Helping People - Changing Lives

Forum on Ending Homelessness in Frederick County

Thursday, November 5th, 7:00 -9:00 PM - Whitaker Center

For more information, call Ken Allread at 301-662-2003.Pre-Forum Workshop 6:00 - 6:45 PM - Hood College, Whitaker Campus Center - Room 220. To register, email Mike Spurrier, Director of FCAA at mspurrier@cityoffrederick.comFor more information, call 301-600-3955*Hosted by Hood College & the Frederick County Coalition for the Homeless. Donations AcceptedThe
Frederick Community Action Agency provides food, shelter, medical
care, housing, and other forms of assistance to families and individuals
that are low-income or homeless.If you would like to make a contribution, please visit donation to view the wide rang of acceptable items.For more information contact Sarah McAleavy, Coordinator, at (301) 600-6263, or email

The Annual Leaf Collection Campaign will continue through Friday, December 18th. For more information go to Leaf Collection Campaign.*Please remember to keep storms drains clear of leaves.For more information, call DPW at 301-600-1440.

The Frederick Police Department

It
is the mission of the Frederick Police Department to safeguard lives
and property, to reduce the incidence and fear of crime with
impartiality and integrity, and to enhance public safety while
partnering with our community to improve quality of life.

Maryland Child Passenger Safety Seat LawAccording
to Maryland Kids in Safety Seats, "Motor vehicle crashes are the
leading cause of unintentional injuries and death among children in the
United States." In Maryland, there is an average of 8 children under the
age of 16 killed and 3,200 seriously injured every year. For guidelines
on child passenger seats, visit Safety Seat Law.Follow these holiday shopping safety tips to minimize your risk of becoming a holiday shopping victim.Holiday Shopping Safety Tips.

The
NAC is a forum for residents to become involved in identifying and
recommending changes to improve your neighborhood. Each NAC meets to
discuss issues, concerns, and neighborhood projects. To find out which
NAC you belong to visit Find Your NAC. NAC meeting schedules can be found here.
For more information, contact Michele Bowman at 301-600-2109 ormbowman@frederickmdpolice.org

Wearing the Pink!

The men and women of the Frederick Police Department celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month during the month of October.
FPD will also be participating in "No Shave November" a fund raiser that will benefit the Hurwitz Breast Cancer Fund.